PS 

3503 

1919 



The Heart of 
a Girl 





Class 
Book.. 



K 5 4 VA^ 



Copyright If ._ 



-i 1 



CDFXRIGRT DEPOSIT. 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



THE HEART of 
A GIRL 

BY 

LUCILE C. ENLOW 




BOSTON 

THE STRATFORD CO., Publishers 
1919 



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Copyright 1919. * 
The STRATFORD CO., B^iblishers 
Boston, Mass. 



SEP -3 idiy 

The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 

©CI.A529788 



INDEX TO CONTENTS 

The Critic 3 

Youth and Age 4 

The Song of the Pines .... 6 

Grandma 8 

The Sailor 9 

Girlhood 10 

The Gypsy Lass 12 

A May Morning 13 

June 15 

A Man's World 17 

The Blues 18 

My Dog 21 

Longing 22 

A Fickle King ... . . . . .23 

Lake Michigan 25 

Fiat Justitio 26 

A Safe Weather Prophecy . . . .27 
v 



INDEX TO CONTENTS 

An Etching 28 

Unspoken Thoughts 29 

Hymn 30 

A Prayer 31 

The Ascension ...... 33 

September 35 

The Waves 36 

De Profundis 37 

On a Brook .39 

Worship 40 

The Little I. W. W 41 

To My Husband 42 

Weary of Light . . . . .44 

Indian Lullaby ...... 45 

Love Song 46 

Baby 47 

Blind Muriel 49 

Babe in the Woods . . . . . 51 

Death and Life 52 

Isaiah 55 54 

vi 



INDEX TO CONTENTS 

My Dream 55 

Absence 56 

A Child 58 

Time 59 

Ghosts 61 

Nursery Song 62 

Sweet Memories 63 

Sunshine and Shadows . . . .64 

Fate 65 

Rest 66 

Florida .67 

Forgetting 68 



vn 



INTRODUCTION 



THESE verses for the most part represent the 
moods of adolescence, as they were written 
between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, a few 
later. 

Whatever their merit as poems, I felt that 
they might be of interest to other young girls 
who find themselves desperate for some mode of 
expressing their thronging thoughts and emo- 
tions. Spent in words hidden away among our 
private belongings, they harm no one and are 
helpful at least for the time being, to us if to 
no other soul. So I dedicate my little book, first 
to the one girl who has been my own loyal com- 
panion and inspiration since childhood, and then 
to all girls everywhere. 

LUCILE C. ENLOW. 



Lovingly Dedicated to Betty Vogel Vining 

INTO my life there came 
A breath of fragrance never lost 
Because one does not doubt me, 
My friend knows all about me 
And loves me just the same 
At any cost. 

And sweeter than her trust 

Is that deep rest of faith in me 
Whereby I know my love is sure, 
'Twill outlast life and then endure — 

When we are laid in dust — 
Eternity. 



The Critic 

HA ! Are ye all authors ? 
This goodly throng! 
Ye all claim to write 

Undying song? 
Let Time judge! 

From such a crowd as ye 
Time might pick one. 

You're all immortal? 
Ha, what fun! 

Let Time judge! 



[3] 



THE HEART OP A GIRL 



Youth and Age 

THE lonely trickle of the drizzling rain 
Falls on my spirit with a pleasant ache ; 
The sleeping echoes of old voices wake 
Like the dim remembrance of forgotten pain. 

Last night the earth wept, warm youth feeling 
old; 
Today the tears are frozen on her face, 
The branches bowing with a weary grace 

Are frozen-bowed now, lifeless, dry and cold. 

The gentle music of warm grief is stilled, 
The footprints planted in the sad, moist 

ground 
Were swiftly sculptured there without a 
sound, 
And with the bright, pure snow were lightly 
filled. 



[4] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

The sun came later and her tender smile 
Made brilliant jewels of those early tears, 
As wise Time uses all the nameless fears 

That bother us in youth a little while. 



[5] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



The Song of the Pines 

THE tinkling needles of the forest pine. 
Sing a serenade to Sedawaia; 
Every little murmur seems like sighing, 
And she sleeps to the song of the pines. 

Sh — ! Sedawaia 's dreaming, 

Dreaming to the song of the pines. 

The whisp 'ring, swaying of the slender boughs 
Bring dreams of a painted quiver, 

And flying arrows whistling thru the pines 
That sing duets with the river. 

Sh — ! Sedawaia 's dreaming, 

Dreaming to the song of the pines. 



[6] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

The perfumed freshness of her forest bed 
Is shared with the fleet wild deer, 

But the Indian locks of Sedawaia 
Do not stir for she knows no fear. 

Sh — ! Sedawaia 's dreaming, 

Dreaming to the song of the pines. 



[7] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Grandma 

GRANDMA ! Saintly, gentle soul ! 
Smiling peaceful on us all; 
Nearing now that longed-for goal, 
Waiting for her Saviour's call. 

See, her tread is slow and careful, 
Not as in her youth she trod ; 

She is learning to be prayerful 
And to keep in step with God. 

Some refuse to bow to kings, 
Some, to beauty, it is said; 

But all the world its tribute brings 
And bows before an old, white head. 



[8] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



The Sailor 

THE leaden sky and the frosty winds 
And the plumes of the foaming sea, 
And the storm-lashed ship on the rattling wave, 
Send a tingling thrill thru an old sea-brave 
And a great old salt like me. 

With a dash and a plunge and a forward bound 

We make for the ocean floor: 
But the waves heave up to the hanging sky 
And hush while we shiver there on high, 

Till we sink with an ominous roar. 

Oh, water is the world for me! 
The roll and splash of the open sea. 



[9] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Girlhood 

PUZZLING emotions, 
Perceptions at war, 
Ambitions that fly out 

And grow as they soar; 
Severe disappointments, 

A time of despair, 
Strange dreams that vanish 

We cannot tell where; 
Short moral lapses, 

Feelings sincere, 
Quick noble passions 

That fade with the year ; 
Fierce thoughts and gentle, 

Hopes strong and pure, 
All things unsettled, 

Nothing quite sure; 
Days of pure happiness, 

Others all pain, 
Struggles recurring 

Again and again; 
Much that is hidden, 

Mysterious, dim, 

[10] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

All so unshapen 

That none may look in ; 
Flashed revelations 

Impetuous tears; 
These, the emotions 

That tangle thru years 
Of Girlhood 



[11] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



The Gypsy Lass 

I LOVE a pretty gypsy lass 
And a witching lass is she; 
She's impossible to match, 
But ah ! She 's wary and hard to catch : 
For she's always bounded free, 
And she's all the world to me; 
But ah ! She 's wary and hard to catch 
And she's all the world to me. 

I love her merry impish eyes 

And her straight and shining hair: 
But she roams thru the world her whole life-long, 
And this is her never-changing song, 

"Your lot I will not share 

Catch me if you dare ! ' ' 
And this is her never-changing song, 

"Catch me if you dare!" 



[12] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



A May Morning 

THE humming-bird with a colored flash, 
Swoops down with a dash, 
And tips the ferns 
To the sweetened urns 

Of the morning-glory. 

The dragon-fly on his paper wing 
Hums a tune to spring, 
And drifts from sight 
Like a fairy kite 

To the buttercups. 

The bumble-bee while it heavily wheels, 
Lifts fringed heels 
And takes a dip 
For a nectared sip 

In the clover-bloom. 



[13] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

A butterfly with a pretty sweep 
Bests her dainty feet 
In a garden bed, 
On the graceful head 
Of a daffodil. 



fl4 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



June 

LIGHTLY I swing in my rainbow hammock, 
Deep in a humid cloud I lie : 
And I sing and swing and I tip and rock 
In my summer home in the sky. 

The primrose withers, the wood-leaves droop, 
Sulky nature is spoiled in the heat: 

But I dream all day that I poise and stoop, 
With fluffy clouds at my winged feet. 



[15] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



SOME hearts are like the wild rose 
With petals frail and sweet, 
That drop off when the wind blows 
And spoil beneath our feet. 



[16] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



A Man s World 

A WOMAN has no right to love 
Until her love is sought. 
So says the world, and for this thing 
Have many women fought. 

Well said, cold world! Come, cage her heart 

In iron to keep it free, 
That she may love when love's returned 

And save her modesty. 



[17] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



The Blues 

WEARY, weary, weary! 
Melancholy song; 
And it's dreary, dreary, dreary 
All day long. 

Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow! 

Hear the people sigh, 
For tomorrow, morrow, morrow 

They will die. 

Dreary life and dismal death! 
Shall we keep or free our breath ? 



[18] 



THE HEART OP A GIRL 



PICK a jolly dandelion! 
Won't he make you smile? 
If he will, then don't tell me 
That weeds are not worth while! 



[19] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



JUST a little ' ' tra-la-la, : 
On a dreary day; 
Just a cheery "Ha-ha-ha!" 
Often lights the way. 



[20] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



My Dog 

LONESOME on a dreary day 
Wand 'ring on my weary way, 
Stumbling thru life's wintry fog, 
Who could cheer me but my dog? 

When I did the best I could, 
And the world misunderstood; 
Foes reviled me, friends the same, 
From my dog the comfort came. 

Then I stroked his curly fur, 
Sympathizing little cur! 
He'll stay with me till I die, 
We're real friends, my dog and I. 



[21] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Longing 

WHEN the sun sinks down to rest 
And the breezes die away, 
Dusky twilight seeks the west 

Chasing every gleam of day; 
Then I long for you, dear, 
Then I long for you. 

When the dreaming hills are shrouded 
And the linnet's song is still, 

And the shadow-elves are crowded 
Dancing on my window-sill; 

Then I long for you, dear, 

Then I long for you. 

When the moon is old and gray 
With its silvery mist of light, 

And the fairies help me pray 
God to keep you thru the night; 

Then I long for you, dear, 

Then I long for you. 

[22] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



A Fickle King 

ON one of those September days 
When the wind is full of moods, 
I listened for his changing voice 

As he whistled thru the woods. 
Hysterical and loud and rough, 

He snatched the tingeing leaves, 
And bore them ruthless to the ground 

For winter chills to freeze. 
Then with a fierce and mighty sigh 

The great wild voice was calm; 
And mourning o'er the dying leaves 

Crooned, weird and low, a psalm: 
And then with awful violence 

He shrieked as if in pain, 
And madly swept the fallen leaves 

Into the hurricane. 
Furious, he rocked the trees 

And forced them to bend low, 
Shouting, li I am king of winds! 

Bow down when I blow!" 



[23] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

Then sorry for the naked tree 

Robbed of its pretty gown, 
The shrill voice wavered in the air 

And wearily died down. 
Quiet for a breathless moment, 

Then, his strength all spent, 
He moaned and wailed a dolorous sound 

And wept a sad lament. 
Softly sobbing — sobbing — sobbing, 

Now he creeps away, 
And when he comes again he'll be 

The gayest of the gay. 



[24] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Lake Michigan 

THE horizon is dipped in the panting waves, 
White clouds touch the under surface; 
Waters are rising in swift green caves, 
And a rainbow is lost in crisping lace; 
This is joy, 
Oh Sailor Boy! 

A jocund sea hits the breezy air 

And slips to the throat of the deep; 
A gull flaps down with a saucy dare 

And tickles a wave with his skimming feet. 
To the north we go, 
Old Boreas, blow! 



[25] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Fiat Justitio 

WEALTH may steal and all is well; 
Lying lips will never tell; 
Dollars easy get more dollars 
In the hands of Old Graft's scholars. 
If a man to save the life 
Of a starving child or wife, 
Takes one crumb of all the loaves 
Baking in the rich man's stoves, 
Then the world in horror cries, 
1 ' Shut him up ! " and thinks she 's wise. 
If we only had the mercy 
Not to take all things by hearsay, 
"We might see the piteous labor 
Of some less successful neighbor, 
And reproach the dirty wretches 
For the gap their grasping stretches. 



[26] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



A Safe Weather Prophecy 

WHEN you go to church to pray for rain, 
Be the sun ever so yellow, 
Be the sky ever so cloudless and blue, 
You'd better take an umbrella. 



[27] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



An Etching 

THE windows of the colored west 
Wide open when the day is done, 
Show richly tinted coverlets 

That make a soft bed for the sun. 



[28] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Unspoken Thoughts 

THE world is ever ready to condemn, to 
scorn, 
To ridicule, to point a cynic's finger 
At its men and almost justly, too, 
The track of thought reveals so little new. 

But in my deepest being lives a faith 
In the unspoken thought of every man 
Wherein still lies the kernel of the best 
Though this thought daily dies unguessed. 



[29] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Hymn 

UNDER thy shadow let me abide; 
For all my needs, Lord, thou can'st 
provide. 
Let me not wander far from thy side, 
Jesus, oh my Saviour! 

Fill thou me with thy love every day; 
"Watch o'er my lips in all that I say: 
Keep my heart pure forever I pray, 
Jesus, oh my Saviour! 

Earnestly, Lord, I hunger for thee; 
Make me just what you want me to be : 
Keep me from sin and dwell thou in me, 
Jesus, oh my Saviour! 



[30] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



A Prayer 

OH Father, fill me with thy joy, 
And keep my heart in peace ; 
May nothing of the world annoy; 
Bid restless longings cease. 

Let thy rich Word abide in me 
And teach me how to pray; 

I ask thee, Lord, my strength to be, 
My guide o'er all the way. 

Give me a love that will forget 
The world owes ought to me, 

That I may tell the wondrous debt 
Man ever owes to thee. 

Thou bidst me cast on thee my care 
And look for rest above : 

Forgive me, Jesus, that I dare 
To doubt thy patient love. 



[31] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

Oh Christ, I see thy matchless worth 

And my poor self I bring, 
For thee to send where e'er on earth 

I can thy praises sing. 



[32] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



The Ascension 

INTO a softly glowing cloud 
Our Saviour ascended out of their sight : 
The Galileans with sad hearts bowed 
Gazed wondering, sorrowing, strangely awed 
At the lingering light. 

In the silence a heavenly voice was heard : 
"Why gaze ye into the heavens still? 

Remember ye not His own glad word? 

How your heavy hearts were comforted, stirred, 
As He told His will? 

Jesus, the very same shall come 

As your eyes have beheld Him return to God. 
He broke the bands of death and the tomb 
And is gone as He said to prepare you a home. 

Go back where He trod. 

Go back to the world He loved so well ; 
Tell of the marvelous virgin birth. 

[33] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

Preach to the unbelieving of hell, 
Of the Saviour's atoning death go tell 
Thru all the earth. 

Why stand ye gazing into the sky? 

Rejoice! Ye sorrowing ones, rejoice! 
Arisen, your Lord can never die : 
Watch ! lest his coming again be nigh ! ' ' 

Spoke the gentle voice. 

So those men preached how He went away, 
And the Comforter came to give them power. 

Hark! Ye sleeping sons of today! 

How do you preach and how do you pray ? 
Waiting — hour by hour? 

Ah ! The time may be long as men count time 
But the Lord is not slack concerning His word. 
Hearts yet bound at those words sublime 
That the angel spoke and in every clime 
Have been heard. 



[34] 



THE HEART OP A GIRL 



September 

ROUGH winter is too rashly bold 
And blows too wild a breath ; 
The teasing sparkle of its cold 
Smiles heartlessly on death. 

New spring is frivolous and gay, 

Untaught and tentative 
When lawless youth throws care away 

And only lives to live. 

The lavish summer's perfumed heat 

Intemperately shed, 
Betokens fruit too ripely sweet 

And words too hotly said. 

But all the years that God has blessed 
Our thankful hearts remember, 

In mellow autumn's holy rest; 
Harmonious September. 



[35] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



The Waves 

THE white-flecked waves with mystic lore, 
Whispered as they touched the shore. 
I could hear them murmuring faintly, 
As they rocked and prated quaintly 
Fairy secrets o'er and o'er. 

Like grandmas at a morning tea, 
Each wave gossiped socially; 

Gayly nodding their white caps, 

Slipping into frequent naps 
As happy as could be. 



[36] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



De Prdfundis 

I GAZED unseen on your face; 
So noble, serene and pure, 
With the dreams of your untried youth. 
I gloried in the strength of your manly grace, 
And your eyes — ah! one glance at those eyes 
Made my blood leap wild: 
Glowing with brown light straight from your 

soul, 
Luminous fires of whimsical charm, 
Or darkened to hide the sensitive thought 
Within. 

Once by chance in a merry crowd 

Your hand touched mine, 

And a flame shot back to my heart, 

Catching the drift-wood of my soul, 

Leaving nought but the soul of my soul, 

And burning there this picture of you 

Forever. 



[37] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

Oh ! Were you now what you might have been, 

Noble, serene and pure 

"With the healthy honest scars 

Of battle with the ills and pains of earth, 

The fire that has burned with steady purpose 

all these years 
To keep my heart a fit place for my love, 
Need never brand another picture 
By the first. 

I wonder had you known a little 

Of the depth of my belief in you, 

Oh half the power I could have thrown with 

yours 
To keep you strong as you were true, 
If you would still have passed me day by day 
And never guessed, 
That God made me your natural 
Complement. 



[38] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



On a Brook 

I HEAR its merry tinkle thru the wood, 
As frolicking and fanciful it strays; 
And vacillating turns so many ways 
To follow out each fitful, changing mood. 

It wanders thru a labyrinth of trees, 
And gurgles fairy secrets to the earth; 
The wood resounding with its elfish mirth 

Re-echos till it never seems to cease. 

Oh aimless, happy little gadding brook! 
Thou servest well to teach mankind an art, 
Though obstacles too easy make thee bend. 

Thy mystic babbling well could make a book 
To fill with joyous tales our heavy hearts, 
And cheer us with their lightness to the end. 



[39] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Worship 

MASTER, look into my heart! 
Behold the wonder there. 
Thou rulest me in every part 
I see thee everywhere. 

Each tiny joy thrills up to thee, 

Its sympathizing Friend; 
And every sorrow trustingly 



.11 U. CVC1J OU11UVV HUi3lliJ 

Awaits a glorious end. 



Oh Jesus, know that I love thee, 

I cannot tell thee how : 
But all thou art, dear Lord, in me 

I give in worship now. 



[40] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



The Little I. W. W. 

ONCE there was a little boy 
And he screamed to his mother, 
"I won't!" 
And his loving mama coaxed her child 
With a "Don't, now, deary, don't!" 

In after years that dear little boy 
Said to his country, "I won't!" 

And his country gave him a dark little cell 
Instead of a "Don't, now, don't." 



[41] 



THE HEART OP A GIRL 



To My Husband 

THERE'S a song in my heart I could sing 
all the day, 
Forever and ever and ever and aye; 
And the skies may be dark or the skies may be 

blue : 
I love you — love you! 
And the skies may be blue or the skies may be 

dark, 
I love you, my husband, dear heart of my heart. 

Some day my glad heart will hush its wild song, 
To a soft lullaby and I'll sing all day long: 
And though we be poor or though we be rich, 
I'll love you — love you! 
And though we be rich or though we be poor, 
I'll love you, my husband, as never before. 

And when we are gray and our children are 

gone 
My voice may be cracked but I'll still have my 

song. 

[42] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

When warm blood grows cold and our bright 

eyes are dim 
I'll love you — love you! 
When bright eyes are dim and our warm blood 

grows cold 
I'll love you more, Sweetheart, because you are 

old. 



[43] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Weary of Light 

MOON, thou chilly shivering guard 
Of night, withdraw, and lead with thee 
The sleepy, blinking stars: 
Disclose no more the brusque shades 
Of the sullen, secret midnight; 
The direful, solemn shapes of blackest hell 
That huddle in the gloom and fright my soul. 

The sun's broad stare lays flat the mystery, 
And shoots with glazing impudence its horrid 

streams 
Upon the awful and the delicate alike. 
Away ! all light, and soothe me in velvet oblivion. 



[44] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Indian Lullaby 

{Four Part Song) 

DEEP night ! Sleep, nighl ! 
Close your thousand eyes bright. 
Rest soon, soft moon 
To this mellow Indian tune. 

Birds call! Leaves fall, 
Rustling from the trees tall; 
Hush! Pines, long pines 
Troubled by the sighing winds. 

Fly deer! Shy deer, 
Swiftly run without fear. 
Bend, bow! Arrow, 
Only harm the Indian's foe. 

Still brook ! Green brook ! 
Whisp'ring in a shady nook. 
Sweet bed, pine bed, 
Fresh and cool for Wana's head. 

Deep night! Sleep, night! 
Close your thousand eyes bright. 
[45] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Love Song 

I FLED from the world with a sudden cry 
From the surging pain of a pent up grief, 
And my sobbing heart did not ask me why 
When at last I wept in despair for relief : 
Wept for relief. 

A year, Beloved, a year from today 
I steeled my heart to say good-bye, 

And fiercely I've lived the time away, 
And fiercely stifled every sigh : 

Fiercely — every sigh. 

I am quivering now with agony, 

And the long year past is a fearful dream. 
Darling! My lover! Come back to me! 
But my shivering heart sees no answering 
gleam : 

No answering gleam. 



[46] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Baby 

BABY sees the blowing leaves 
And smiles up at the pretty trees 
Baby gives a funny sneeze — 
And learns to laugh. 

One pink foot shoves on the floor; 
Baby moves an inch or more : 
Now he reaches for the door 
And he can creep ! 

"Ma-ma-ma-ma" is the song 
Baby sings when something's wrong. 
Mama always comes along, 
He knows a word! 

Baby pulls up on a stair; 
Then he stands by mother 's chair ; 
Then he takes his father's dare 
And walks alone. 



[47] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



How our heart-strings ring with joy 
As we see our baby boy 
Learning by each painted toy, 
Some new thing. 

To Him in grateful love we look 
Who often little children took 
Commanding us in His dear Book 
To be like them. 



[48] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Blind Muriel 

THE poets sing of pale blue skies 
And whistling wind : 
I hear the rustling breeze that flies 
Like talking air, and gently sighs 
Because I'm blind, 
But what is color that they find 
The rumbling clouds are yellow-lined? 

The waving grasses speak to me 

And make me strong 
With understanding sympathy: 
They seem to know I cannot see 

And whisper long 

That nothing in the world is wrong 

Since I can hear the faintest song. 

If I could see, I've often heard 

That it would mean 
A duller ear for calls of bird, 
That trill out while the light wings purr 

[49] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

Above the green, 

Which feels so soft and cool now in my dream 

And harmonizes with things as they seem. 

A sound makes pictures that to me are real : 
I love to know things as I hear and feel. 



[50] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Babe in the Woods 

SPORT with the shadows 
And catch the dead leaves 
Eat nuts with the squirrels 
And climb the tall trees: 
Hie off with the sunshine 

To find the spring flowers, 
But fly home to motherland 
From the cold showers. 

List to the sermons 

Of Jack-in-the-pulpit ; 
Hush, till you find 

Where the oriole's babe lit: 
Ho! Little runaway 

From mother's arms; 
Come slip to your own nest 

When the wood storms. 



[51] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Death and Life 

MY thoughts amorphous, straggle thru my 
brain, 
Until they find a chamber locked as death, 
Where oft before they have in timid fear 
Refused to try the bright, cold key to pain. 

With fretted haste, they scatter in a maze; 
But marshalled by a strange, resisting force. 
Today they circle close about the door — 

And open to the chill of murdered days. 

The air smells stalely sweet of flowers crushed 
And broken from their green and tender 

stems. 
Diaphanous, a pall of dull blue light 

Half screens a coffin, coldly hushed. 

Strewn under and around it, lovely forms 
Show ghastly faces, horrid with decay. 
My thoughts gaze wildly at the stiffened days 

And winged memories clinging dead in swarms. 

[52] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

With stifled cries they blindly seek the light 
Of day, and struggle out in crowds in haste, 
To lock the door forever; but one thought 

Like evening sunshine, lingered in the night. 

Unmindful of the aspect so like death 

Of flowers, memories, days and coffined trust, 
Forgiveness touched them all and gently 
smiled 
To see them start to life with fresh, warm 
breath. 

The air, transformed and mellow, softly moves 
Abundant with the wholesome stir of spring; 
The fruit of death is rich, eternal life 

When touched by love, forgiveness ever proves. 



[53] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Isaiah 55 

INCLINE thine ear and come unto me 
Hear, and thy soul shall live : 
Open thine eyes, that thou mayest see 
The blessings I have to give. 

Oh wicked one, forsake thy way; 

Unrighteous man, thy thought : 
Return to the Lord while 'tis called today; 

Thy sins I'll count for naught. 

The rocks may move and hills depart, 

But ne 'er my love from thee : 
Fear not, but give to me thy heart 

And I thy God will be. 



[54] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



My Dream 

I SEE thee oft, bright angel, 
And love thee each time more. 
Today thy face shines with a light 

I never saw before. 
With awe and holy rapture, 

I hush my lingering breath; 
And rest deep in thy close embrace, 
Sweet messenger of death. 



[55] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Absence 

THE moon shines down with a big, soft glow 
of light, 
As I sit on onr old back stairs : 
And the whip-poor-will's call is the only sound 
of the night 
While I breathe from, my soul these prayers. 

"Oh God, take the loneliness here in my aching 
breast 
And the longing for him I love, 
And his longing for me, and teach us that true 
soul-rest 
That is only born from above. 

Distill from our common suffering, his and 
mine, 
A fragrance as sweet as the flowers, 
That we may not think of the pain of our part- 
ing, and pine 
For the wild, selfish joy of past hours.' ' 



[56] 



THE HEART OP A GIRL 

The moon still glows o'er the silent earth and 
I hear 
The faint, crazed call of the whip-poor-will: 
But somehow, darling, I feel in my heart you 
are near 
With the ocean between us still. 



[57] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



A Child 

A CHILD ! They say I am a child 
When thoughts pass thru my brain as wild 
And reckless as the sea, 
That rush like strong waves over me. 

Well, let them say it ! I will smile, 
And my heart bursting all the while, 
Shall seem to them a quiet place 
Where nought abides but love and grace. 

A restless spirit like a twittering bird 
Within me has a big ambition stirred, 
To rouse the world with something great 
And do it now, lest it should be too late. 



[58] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Time 

WHAT shall I do with the hours that fly 
Like slow-moving clouds thru the infinite 
sky 
Of the infinite universe ? So many more 
Follow this and untarrying vanish before 
I have wakened to greet them. I wish I could 

see 
Them before they slip by so bewilderingly. 
I think of the hours I have lived thru in vain, 
And the days they have made, till a vague, rest- 
less pain 
Fills my heart. In my life all the good I have 

done, 
If condensed into years would scarcely make 

one. 
The minutes, the hours, the days and the weeks 
Of my gay, heedless youth I have wasted. Time 

seeks 
Not to force its fulfillment but sternly rides on, 
Still some of it going and some of it gone. 

[59] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 

It waits not one moment and heeds not one tear 
Of the many that flow o'er the grave of a year. 
But I'll spend no more of it in useless lament, 
For I cannot redeem any moment misspent. 
Still march on, O thou mystery, eternal Time! 
By thy seconds and minutes and hours I'll 
climb. 



[60] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Ghosts 

I SHIVER at the moon at night 
As scared as scared can be, 
Cause the shadows of its spooky light 
Look just like bears against the white 
A chasin' after me. 

I niver was a scared o'day 
When things are company. 
The sunshine shadows chase away 
Like little girls and boys at play 
That you can plainly see. 

But even day has awful sights 
'Cause I looked way up high, 

And saw that thing I see o' nights, 

Paler 'n any kind o' lights, 
The moon's ghost in the sky! 



[61] 



THE HEART OP A GIRL 



Nursery Song 

THE ginger-bread man! The ginger-bread 
man! 
Sprinkle inside him a little grape jam, 
And bake him in the cookie pan: 
And everyone likes the ginger-bread man. 

It matters not if he has one eye, 
Or if he puffs out and then sighs a sad sigh, 
The children one and all will cry, 
1 ' He 's the ginger-bread man ! The ginger-bread 
man!" 



[62] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Sweet Memories 

WILDROSE, gentian, golden-rod, 
Reminders true: 
How tenderly they always nod 
And speak of you! 

' ' Her cheeks were like my petals fair, ' ' 

The wildrose nods: 
"And I am like her yellow hair," — 

The golden-rods. 

The gentian smiles up at the skies 

To let me know, 
She's but the shadow of your eyes 

Down here below. 



[63] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Sunshine and Shadows 

WHEN the sun went lilting 
Over the summer sea, 
Then the rays flew whispering, 

"Well come back to thee." 
Mingling with the shadows 
Farther off they strayed, 
Leaving me in darkness, 

Doubting and sore dismayed. 

Back the sun came lilting 

Over the summer sea. 
Then the rays flew whispering, 

"We've come back to thee." 
Others were in the shadow, 

I was in the light. 
To appreciate sunshine 

We have to have the night. 



[64] 



THE HEART OP A GIRL 



Fate 

I BREATHED my soul across the sea 
And whispered, "Love, come back to me ! 
But oh, what ceaseless agony! 

The waves rose stern and tall, 
To dash my soul's cry back to me 
And that is all. 



[65] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Rest 

THE purple clouds met the quiet sea 
And rolled o'er the silent deep. 
A single star trembled over me 
As the great ship labored steadily, 
And I felt at last my soul fly free 

And my drooping eyelids close in sleep 
"While the purple clouds met the quiet sea 
And rolled o'er the silent deep. 



[66] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Florida 

THERE'S a lilting breeze 
That is great and rare, 
Where the spiked palm leaves 
On the tall, gaunt trees 
Cut the luring air. 

How the sun does shine 
On the brilliant sand 
So white and fine, 
Thru the slippery pine 
Of the dear South-land! 

There's the sweetest drawl 

In the mellow tone 
That runs "yo' all" 
In a lazy sprawl 

Like a honey-bee drone. 

On the summer sea, 

In the air above 
There is poetry, 
And the birds agree 

In a song of love. 
[67] 



THE HEART OF A GIRL 



Forgetting 

MY heart's been sad for long, so long, 
And all the world's been going wrong, 
Till I'd forgot the sound of song: 

Why does it seem 
That all the bitterness is gone? 

Is this a dream? 
Oh, wake me not ! Let me sleep on 
By Lethe's stream. 



[68] 



